1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to fixture carriers for supporting plumbing fixtures and, more particularly, to a carrier having a frame with a vertical upright that includes a waste line sleeve, which defines a horizontally-extending passageway through the vertical upright to allow for passage of a horizontal waste line through the upright.
2. Description of Related Art
Building design and construction is increasingly utilizing plumbing chase space, i.e., the space behind and in between walls that contains plumbing supply and waste lines, of the narrowest possible width. Steel wall studs can normally be 2″×4″ resulting in an actual 1½″×3½″ physical dimension. The need for lavatory carriers to fit into the actual 3½″ wide space is increasing.
Several models of prior art lavatory carriers are able to fit into the 3½″ wide space. Such carriers typically use some sort of upright tube or pipe as part of the support system. Those upright tubes or pipes, for the most part, will fill the 3½″ width of the chase space. In many instances, particularly when multiple lavatories are in a restroom, it is desirable to have a common horizontal waste line (with pitch) that each lavatory will connect to for waste discharge.
An example of such a carrier is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,096,520 (hereinafter “the '520 patent”), issued on Aug. 29, 2006, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. FIG. 1 illustrates a fixture carrier 10 in accordance with the '520 patent. The carrier 10 includes a pair of vertical uprights 20 and may or may not include a top cross bar 30 and bottom cross bar 40, which connect the vertical uprights 20. A support arm 60 for supporting a lavatory 70 is fixed to the vertical uprights 20 by brackets 50 and associated hardware. A waste trap line 80 connects a waste discharge of the lavatory 70 to a common horizontal waste line 90. The fixture carrier 10 is installed in a chase space 100 having a width of 3½″.
As illustrated in FIG. 1, the problem is that the carrier uprights 20 are blocking the width of the chase space 100 and the horizontal waste line 90 cannot pass “through” the uprights 20. Simply cutting a hole in or through the upright may compromise the structural integrity of the upright and cause the carrier system to not pass the industry standard load testing performance requirements and/or be unacceptable in actual use.